WAIS scholarship
holders Kiel Brown, Fergus Kavanagh, Tyler Lovell, Trent Mitton and Aran
Zalewski have been named in the Kookaburras squad as they prepare for
team selections leading into Rio 2016.

The 27-man squad will train together in the
lead up to Rio before 16 names are submitted to the Australia Olympic
Committee in July.

Selections come after Hockey Australia
reviewed athletes past performance in competitions including the
Australian Hockey League and Hockey World League in June.

Selectors outlined the extensive process
undertaken which included the collation of large amounts of information
where every player was assessed beyond previous high level performance,
in terms of the team dynamics.

Over half the squad are vying for a spot in their first Olympic Games including Lovell, Mitton and Zalewski.

On the other end of the spectrum Olympic
veteran Fergus Kavanagh has the opportunity to represent Australia in
his third consecutive Olympics.

After playing in the 2008 Games alongside
Kavanagh, and being an accredited reserve in 2012, Kiel Brown will have
his chance to reclaim a position in Rio De Janeiro.

In addition to the Olympic squad Hockey
Australia named an 11-man 2016 National Development Squad which included
WA athletes Tristan Clemons, Chris Bausor and Tom Wickham.

From this Clemons has been awarded a full
time Hockey Australia scholarship allowing him to train with the
Australian Olympic squad.

The athletes will return to training for a
camp in the first week of January following a Christmas break before 20
players head to India to play in the Hockey India League for a month.